April date planned for Seymour Johnson AFB air show

Monday's Goldsboro City Council meeting lasted all of 15 minutes -- a consent agenda was passed and board members made announcements -- but during a pre-meeting work session, Travel and Tourism director Betsy Rosemann primed the councilmen for a big 2011.

Seymour Johnson Air Force Base's Wings Over Wayne airshow, she said, is on the books for next spring.

Air show director Maj. James Ladd confirmed this morning that Wings Over Wayne will be April 16-17.

"The 4th Fighter Wing and 916th Air Refueling Wing would like to invite the community and their families to come out and see the wide variety of aircraft displays and aerial demonstrations that showcase our military air power," he said in a statement. "This is Seymour Johnson's opportunity to open our gates to the public so they can see what we do and meet our military families."

But just which acts will perform in Wayne County skies a few months from now is still uncertain -- the 2009 airshow saw the Navy Blue Angels and Army Golden Knights bring their talents to Goldsboro -- as local officials must wait until a December meeting of the International Council of Air Shows to confirm their lineup.

One thing, however, is clear, Mrs. Rosemann said: the county can expect the event to make a tremendous impact on the Goldsboro and Wayne economies.

More than 100,000 people -- a Seymour Johnson record -- made their way onto the base for the two-day event in 2009, a crowd tourism officials hope to match just a few weeks before Mount Olive's annual Pickle Festival, an event that brings in tens of thousands in its own right.

"With the events we have coming ... it's going to be a big year," Mrs. Rosemann told the council.